GJNC Recap – Austin Juniors 16 Adidas – 16 American
The USA Volleyball Girls Junior National Championship took place at the Las Vegas Convention Center from June 26-July 5. In order to play at this prestigious tournament in one of the four main divisions, a club team must win their…
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Continue ReadingThe USA Volleyball Girls Junior National Championship took place at the Las Vegas Convention Center from June 26-July 5. In order to play at this prestigious tournament in one of the four main divisions, a club team must win their bid by placing at a USAV national qualifier.
184 teams have earned their right to represent their club and compete to be one of the best teams in the nation in four different 16’s divisions. The state of Texas was heavily represented in the 16’s American Division with 11 teams making the trip to Nevada out of the 64 teams in the tournament.
Austin Juniors 16 Adidas
The team led by head coach Miguel Saenz has had a fantastic season as they were able to Qualify for USA Junior Nationals. So far this season they have 27 wins and only 21 losses against some stellar competition. They placed sixth at Lone Star Regionals to earn their bid to Nationals.
Day one and two consists of pool play. There are six pools of eight teams that are seeded by USA Volleyball. Many factors go into the seeding such as win/loss record versus the rest of the teams in the field. AJV 16 Adidas came in to the tournament ranked as the 10thbest team in the 16 American Division. They went undefeated in matches during the first pool of the tournament that is played over the first two days. The only tough match that they truly had was the first match of the tourney against Invasion 16 Black from the Heart of America region in which AJV won (25-27, 25-15, 15-13). The other four teams in the pool were no match for Austin Juniors as they won each match in straight sets the rest of the way.
Day three at Nationals in the American Division goes into a small four-team bracket to determine which final bracket for the final day. These teams now have to prove themselves by getting first place in this bracket to still have a shot at the title. 16 Adidas were in a super tough battle against the hometown Vegas Aces 16 Under Armour and squeaked by with scores of (28-26, 25-20). Next up for Austin was fellow Texas volleyball club El Paso Stars 16 Gold from the Sun Country Region. They made quick work of them as they won (25-17, 25-19).
Up next for Austin Juniors was the Day four Gold bracket. Austin ran into a strong Hawaiian team in 808 Athletic Club 16-1 in the first round. Both teams battled back and forth in the first set with Austin Juniors winning 25-22. Hawaii lost its energy and AJV put their foot on the gas and took the next set 25-13 to win the match.
The Semi-Finals against Wildfire 16 National from Florida was a very similar match in which AJV won (26-24, 25-17). This pitted them against Surfside16 MB Legends from Southern California who came into the tourney ranked 12thoverall for the right to be called the National Champion of the 16 American Division. AJV rallied and showed their will against the Cali team to win the championship (23-25, 25-22, 15-3). Let’s meet a few of the players from the team.
Ellie Mattox Ellie Mattox 5'11" | S Vandegrift | 2023 State TX and Kayla Lopez were named to the 16 American All-Tournament team due to their great setting and attacking, respectively, throughout the tournament. Both have been on my watch-list and will be ranked in our state rankings in our next update. Stay tuned to see where they fall amongst the best in the state.
16 American – Most Valuable Player:
Lauren Murphy [2023] 6-4 Middle/Right Side (HS: Round Rock/Club: Austin Jniors/Verbal: Uncommitted)
Lauren is currently ranked as the 26thbest overall prospect and the top right side in the state. We have profiled her last December when we welcomed her to the State Rankings and here is a little from the article, “She is a long player who excels at the net for her high school and club program in the Austin area. She primarily plays on the right for Round Rock high school and has helped her Varsity team become a force in their district. Her long extremities allow her to be a show stopping middle. She regularly slows down opposing hitters with her ability to penetrate the net. She will only get better with time as she gets even faster and more acclimated to the Varsity level. She is capable of running all sets along the net with her setters. She can hit multiple tempos with ease and will be moving up the ranking as she progresses in her skills. She already has a great whip of an arm that brings some heat to her high touch on the ball. This makes her a deadly weapon for both school and club. We can’t wait to cover her during the club season and we want to welcome her with open arms to our State Ranking List.” Recently she was added to the “10 foot club” meaning she can touch ten feet high with her attack approach. She has been lauded as Newcomer of the year by numerous publications. It is safe to say that her stock is rising fast. College coaches were around the court watching all weekend. We are extremely proud and she will likely move up the rankings during the next update. Stay tuned to see where she falls.
16 American – All Tournament Team
Ellie Mattox Ellie Mattox 5'11" | S Vandegrift | 2023 State TX [2023] 5-11 Setter (HS: Vandegrift/Club: Austin Juniors/Verbal: Uncommitted)
Ellie is currently listed as the as the 99thbest overall prospect in the 2023 class according to our Prep Dig State Rankings. She is a very lengthy and skilled setter from the Austin area. We profiled her in January and this is what we stated about her, “She is a solid athletic setter who excels in setting location while jump setting all hitters across the net. She has a really quick release and replicates her hand placement well. This shows that she is extremely coachable and has had some really good training at the setting position. A lot of young setters are scared to jump set all hitters because it takes exact positioning of their hands and perfectly replicated hand contact in order to be consistent. Miss Mattox relishes in that and showcases true consistency in her hand contact and release. She was able to help her varsity squad claim a district title this year and is looking to lead them again next season further into the playoffs. This past weekend she was able to help her Austin Junior 16 Adidas team go undefeated and qualified for the Tour of Texas series of tournaments. We are excited to have her in the Prep Dig family and look forward to watching her progress. Please help us congratulate her on the honor of being ranked amongst the best in the state.” We are very proud of her as she was able to earn All-tournament honors this past weekend at the Girls Junior National Championships in Vegas. She led her team well and ran a great offense all weekend long. We will be moving her up in the rankings during the next update. Stay tuned to see where she falls.
Stay tuned for more articles on your favorite teams and athletes. If you have anyone you think we should watch out for, please shoot me an email with some info on them at nov8vb@yahoo.com. Also don’t forget to help these kids get more exposure by sharing our stories with your friends. Help us help them by simply retweeting on Twitter or sharing on Facebook. Thanks for following Texas Family!